Imiloa Astronomy Center 3D planetarium show goes global

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s ʻImiloa Astronomy Center’s co-produced 3D planetarium series, Awesome Light Trilogy, is now distributed in eight countries and translated in six languages.

“Audiences feel as if they are standing inside the observatories of Mauna Kea and could reach out and touch the telescopes. It is the closest thing to being an astronomer working on the mountain,” said Shawn Laatsch, ʻImiloa’s planetarium manager. Laatsch led the film crew and directed the productions.

Awesome Light Trilogy

Awesome Light 1: Big Mirrors on the Mountain gives audiences insight into the latest discoveries taking place on Mauna Kea and explores the largest optical and infrared observatories on the mountain.

Awesome Light 2: Seeing the Invisible takes the audience to Mauna Kea and the radio and submillimeter observatories located there. Viewers see the remnants of a comet collision with Jupiter using the Smithsonian Submillimeter Array, fly into the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy and see gas flows from James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and more.

Awesome Light 3: Chasing Celestial Mysteries examines how near-Earth asteroids are explored with the NASAIRTF and hear the personal stories of discovery and inspiration from Hawaiian students using the UH Hilo Hōkū Kea telescope.

Adapted from the February 2013 edition of UH Hilo’s faculty and staff newspaper, Ka Lono Hanakahi, Download Ka Lono Hanakahi to read the full story.